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A formula that remains punk as fuck

No true punk hankers for success. And there’s no truer punk rocker at heart than [b]Ted Leo[/b]. The whirlwind of adoration bestowed by the gullible faux punx who follow the [b]Blink-182s[/b] of the world may have evaded Leo (therefore making him punk by default) but no-one could deny that this New Jersey native has been keeping it real for the duration of his 20 years-plus career. Here, Leo romanticises his teenage love for the frenetic energy of [b]Thin Lizzy[/b] ([b]‘Bartomelo And The Buzzing Of Bees’[/b]) and the socio-political assertion of [b]Minor Threat[/b] ([b]‘Bottled In Cork’[/b]), broadcasting the subversive policies of leftist politics without preaching you into a corner; and all the while singing like a hyperactive [b]Elvis Costello[/b] ([b]‘Even Heroes Have To Die’[/b]). As tempting as it might be to chastise Leo for stomping the same ground as previous records, his formula does remain punk as fuck.

[b]Ash Dosanjh[/b]

Click here to get your copy of Ted Leo And The Pharmacists’ ‘Brutalist Bricks’ from the Rough Trade shop